Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance Of The Seas sat anchored at the cruise terminal in Tampa Bay. In just a few hours, the ship would be filled with over 2,000 Gospel music fans for the 45th annual Singing At Sea Cruise; and I couldn’t be happier to leave all the cold temps and snow at home for…
It’s the last day of a cruise, how do you spend your time? Plan every hour down to the minute and pack in as much as you can? Find a chair on deck and relax? I’ve found that the answer varies from cruise to cruise, and this year, I took a more relaxed pace on…
Thursday morning, my alarm went off at an ungodly hour. The only thing that kept me from hitting the snooze button was three excursion tickets to Chichen Itza predominantly displayed on the counter in front of the mirror. Now that was worth getting up for… Unfortunately, the Windjammer wasn’t open at 6:00 am to eat…
Tuesday dawned. It was the first full day of my fifth Singing at Sea cruise and I was looking forward to the first port of call on the trip – Key West, Florida. But before we could explore the southernmost point of the U.S., my mom and I went up to the Windjammer and had…
Tampa, Florida dawned bright and sunny the day I boarded Brilliance Of The Seas for the 2018 Singing At Sea cruise. Though it felt strange to be wearing a sleeveless blouse in February, it felt rather good to be somewhere hot. (When I left home that week, it was 15 degrees.) I’ve been a big…
The murky water below churned as the ms Paradise glided through the dark waves. Along the horizon, the sky and water only had one color. Black. It was just after six o’clock in the morning and I was determined to see that orange ball pop over the horizon on Tuesday. Being early in the week,…
You’re waiting for the commercials to end so you can go back to watching your favorite television show, as you stare at the screen, suddenly; a roaming gnome from Travelocity appears sitting on a beach somewhere far off on a tropical island. As you lounge on the sofa and watch the gnome watch the tranquil…
Fifteen minutes after we returned to the ship, The Paradise left Cozumel. The idea of being on a seven hour excursion when you’re only in port for eight hours can cause some anxiety, but since it was a Carnival excursion it was Carnival’s responsibility to get us back to the ship. Therefore, they couldn’t leave…
Thursday morning I didn’t bother trying to see the sun rise. Other things were on my mind. The night before the Captain warned that we were heading into rough seas and to simply be careful walking on deck and around the ship. Just be sure of your steps. As I bustled around the stateroom and…
The alarm went off and I peeked out my stateroom window with a sigh of relief. The sun wasn’t up yet. Hurrying through my morning routine, I made my way to the Lido Deck as quickly as my sea legs could take me. There, at the back of the ship I walked through the sliding…
